Chapter 185: The Strongest Creature Descends!
The massive, mountain-like body of the Brawny Tyrants' "Four Ghosts" completely lost its balance, leaning forward like a felled redwood.
Gravity claimed the Ancient Giant, and he crashed heavily to the rocky ground amidst countless horrified, astonished, and entirely disbelieving gazes.
The impact was cataclysmic. The earth trembled violently, sending a localized seismic shockwave rippling outwards that caused weaker pirates to lose their footing and tumble to the ground.
A massive plume of rising dust and shattered bedrock exploded into the air, momentarily obscuring the sun. The thick dust cloud seemed to be silently mourning the sudden, inexplicable fall of this terrifying Ancient Giant executive.
"Big Brother Four Ghosts!"
A collective scream of sheer terror tore from the throats of the remaining Giants. The sound was deafening, a chorus of raw disbelief that echoed over the clamor of war.
"What happened? What's going on?!"
"That's impossible! With such a tiny, insignificant wound... and Big Brother Four Ghosts' monstrous physical energy, how could he possibly die?!"
The Brawny Tyrants' Nine Ghosts and Ten Ghosts, along with the nearby Tobiroppo members, froze in their tracks.
They stared intently, their eyes bulging from their sockets, at the massive, unmoving corpse that was rapidly losing its bodily heat. A profound, icy chill shot directly from the soles of their boots straight to the tops of their heads, freezing their blood.
They had seen it clearly with their own two eyes.
That silent, emotionless woman with the crimson eyes had merely cut an almost negligible opening on Four Ghosts' thick belly. It was a scratch that wouldn't have even required a bandage.
And then, almost immediately, the invincible Four Ghosts died.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no desperate struggle for survival, and no gruesome scene of flesh flying in all directions. He died silently, his massive life force snuffed out in a single, utterly bizarre instant!
"That woman's blade... is strange! It's cursed!"
Kazumi's pupils contracted violently until they were the size of pinpricks. He roared hoarsely, his voice cracking as he desperately warned everyone around him.
"She's a Devil Fruit user! Do not let her weapon touch you! I repeat, absolutely do not let that blade touch your skin!"
His desperate warning echoed across the chaotic, blood-soaked battlefield, but the crimson figure that had just delivered sudden death was already gone.
Akame had already smoothly sheathed her cursed blade, Murasame, with a sharp click. With a mere flash of her lithe body, she blurred into a streak of red and black, merging seamlessly back into the protective ranks of the silent Shadow Soldiers.
She vanished without a single trace, her presence completely masked, acting exactly as if she had never even been there.
Yet, the towering, cold corpse of the Ancient Giant silently, undeniably declared her lethal presence to the entire Beasts Pirates army.
"Oh? They can still rapidly analyze the general situation in the heat of battle and immediately share crucial tactical information."
Suzaku stood leisurely in the distance, his hands casually resting in his pockets. He stroked his chin thoughtfully, commenting with genuine interest as he watched the enemy's reaction.
"It seems not all of these 'Ancient Giants' that Kaido spent an absolute fortune creating are just brainless, muscle-bound failures."
Suzaku smiled faintly, internally praising the [Multiverse Summoning System] for providing him with such perfect, lethal tools. Akame's One-Hit Kill was the ultimate counter to these massive, health-sponge monsters.
These Brawny Tyrants held a high status within the crew, second only to the Tobiroppo. This sudden display of tactical awareness suggested their rank wasn't solely due to their massive bodies and raw, destructive power.
Meanwhile, on the completely opposite side of the battlefield, King's internal fury was completely, uncontrollably ignited.
A highly valued colleague had just been mysteriously, effortlessly assassinated right in front of them, and his fellow All-Star, Queen, was currently being brutally toyed with by another woman.
All of these humiliating events stacked together completely stripped this proud "Flame Disaster" of his absolute dignity!
"O-mamori Fire Dragon King!"
King roared furiously, channeling every ounce of his boiling Lunarian blood. He gathered all his monstrous physical strength and slashed out fiercely with his giant, serrated blade.
The air around the blade didn't just heat up; it instantly combusted.
This time, what violently erupted from the swinging blade was no longer the previous, standard Fire Dragon.
It was a terrifying, apocalyptic Dragon Emperor whose body was even larger and more muscular, whose scales were sharper and more ferocious, and whose entire massive form was completely engulfed in a sinister, purple-black Hellfire!
The purple-black Fire Dragon King let out a deafening roar that shook the very atmosphere. Everywhere it passed, the ambient oxygen was instantly consumed, and even the air itself was visibly scorched and violently distorted by the extreme thermal radiation.
Its destructive might was several times stronger, several times more concentrated, than anything King had displayed before!
"Don't you dare think you've won! Repent for your sins in hell! Try surviving this move of mine!"
King let out a guttural, beast-like roar from beneath his black mask, pouring his sheer, unadulterated hatred into the attack aimed at Esdeath.
"Hahaha! Now this is quite interesting. The Fire Release in this world is certainly unique, though it's still far inferior to yours, Madara!"
Hashirama Senju, who was casually standing on the sidelines observing the brutal fight, saw this incredibly powerful, purple-black Fire Dragon rapidly approaching.
Far from being nervous or intimidated by the apocalyptic heat wave, the First Hokage even had the abundant leisure to completely turn around and cheerfully tease his brooding best friend.
"Hmph."
Uchiha Madara simply stood there, his posture perfectly straight, with his arms tightly crossed over his red armor. He didn't even bother to turn his head to look directly at the raging Fire Dragon King.
His Sharingan eyes stared straight ahead, filled only with an absolute, chilling indifference that naturally scorned all creation beneath him.
"Don't you ever compare me to burning trash of this pathetic level, Hashirama. It's an insult to the Uchiha name."
Just then, Suzaku, who had been silently and attentively watching the shifting tides of the battle, suddenly curved his lips into a wide, highly amused smile.
"Hahaha, alright, alright. The usual nostalgic bickering between you two best friends can stop for just a moment."
Suzaku slowly raised his head, shifting his sharp gaze away from King and aiming it directly toward the colossal Tenshu-kaku, the towering Castle Tower situated at the highest point of Onigashima.
"Our highly anticipated 'main course' finally couldn't hold back his anger anymore. He is making a personal appearance."
As soon as the last syllable left Suzaku's mouth, the very atmosphere of the island changed.
An indescribable, utterly terrifying pressure, heavy and suffocating like an invisible, crushing ocean tide, suddenly descended from the sky. It instantly, mercilessly enveloped the entirety of the vast battlefield!
It was the overbearing, completely unreasonable, and tyrannical aura of a true "Emperor" of the Sea, a presence that naturally towered above all living, breathing beings!
The immense, physical weight of this Conqueror's Haki caused the chaotic, deafening sounds of fighting to completely quiet down for several long, agonizing seconds.
Whether they were the savage, bloodthirsty members of the Beasts Pirates fighting desperately for their lives, or the usually fearless, emotionless Ice Cavalry and Shadow Soldiers.
Every single entity on the battlefield instinctively, involuntarily halted their violent movements at this exact moment, forced into stillness by the sheer weight of the aura.
The previously clear sky above Onigashima was rapidly, unnaturally darkening.
Thick, ominous black storm clouds gathered aggressively from all directions. They rolled and roared with deep, internal thunder, swirling into a massive vortex as if bowing to welcome a supreme, ancient monarch.
"ROAR...!!!"
A primordial, earth-shattering Dragon's Roar, carrying enough sonic force to practically tear the dark sky apart, echoed endlessly through the heavens!
The sound alone caused the ground to vibrate and forced weaker pirates to cover their bleeding ears in absolute agony.
Under the completely terrified, awestruck gazes of tens of thousands of people present, the clouds parted.
A massive, incredibly long Azure Dragon, physically large enough to effortlessly blot out the sun and cast the entire island into deep shadow, burst violently through the swirling storm clouds and began to circle down!
Its thick, overlapping azure scales caught the flashes of lightning. Each scale shimmered with a heavy, indestructible metallic luster, seeming exactly like the hardest, most impenetrable armor existing in the entire world.
The unimaginably long and agile dragon body hovered menacingly in the turbulent air, coiling upon itself, practically covering the entirety of the sky directly above the frozen battlefield.
A pair of massive, glowing golden vertical pupils, burning with a rage so intense it could melt stone, looked down upon everything below. They glared like two angry, miniature suns piercing through the darkness.
It was none other than one of the absolute supreme rulers of this sea, the terrifying Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates, the undisputed "strongest creature" alive—Kaido!
After feeling the massive, destructive commotion of King and Queen's battles, and subsequently sensing the emergence of an incredibly strong, familiar aura, Kaido could no longer sit and drink.
He had immediately transformed and rushed out to the scene to personally check the dire situation. The moment his golden eyes swept the ground, he instantly spotted the core members of the Suzaku Pirates standing casually amidst the ruin!
Old acquaintances meeting again under these circumstances instantly brought forth an intense, world-ending hostility!
"You arrogant bunch of little bastards..."
Kaido's deep, booming voice, sounding exactly like rolling, divine thunder, echoed directly in everyone's ears, carrying a monstrous, barely contained wrath.
"How dare you come back and run wild on my personal territory!"
BOOM...!!!
After a brief, suffocating moment of stunned, absolute silence, the tens of thousands of members of the Beasts Pirates instantly erupted!
A sudden, deafening torrent of fanatical, tear-filled cheers washed over the island, completely shattering the previous silence.
"It's Governor-General Kaido! He's here!"
"The invincible Governor-General has finally arrived! We're absolutely guaranteed total victory now!"
"Hahahaha! Now these arrogant outsiders are all completely doomed! Not a single one of them will escape this island alive!"
"Brothers! Pick up your weapons! Attack! Let's present their severed heads directly to the Governor-General!"
Kaido's awe-inspiring, god-like appearance acted like the strongest possible dose of combat adrenaline injected straight into their hearts.
It instantly, miraculously boosted the shattered morale of the pirates who had just been falling into deep, inescapable decline and fear.
Their previous terror vanished, making them rush toward the Suzaku Pirates even more frantically than before. Their eyes were completely bloodshot, bulging as if they had been pumped full of pure, volatile blood.
"Oh dear, how utterly pitiful."
Suzaku simply shook his head helplessly, a look of genuine mock-pity on his face as he watched the wave of pirates fall right back into suicidal fanaticism.
"Even now, after seeing their executives fall so easily, they still don't seem to understand the fundamental, insurmountable gap in power between us."
"Hahahaha! Now this is what I'm talking about!"
Hashirama Senju suddenly slapped his palms together with a loud, sharp crack. A bright, incredibly cheerful, and deeply excited smile rapidly spread across his entire face.
Faint, incredibly dense and potent Natural Energy had already begun to visibly gather and swirl around his towering figure, causing the ground beneath him to pulse with life.
"Finally, the really big guy has shown himself! It looks like it's finally my turn to step up and have a proper bout!" Hashirama cheered, his blood pumping.
However, the very moment his excited sentence finished, the man standing right beside him, who had remained perfectly silent until now, suddenly spoke.
"No. You wait."
Uchiha Madara slowly, deliberately lowered his crossed arms to his sides. The burning, manic battle intent that he had been suppressing flared up in his Sharingan eyes once more, glowing with an unholy crimson light.
He had been standing here on the sidelines, merely watching these low-level skirmishes for entirely too long. It was boring.
It wasn't until the majestic appearance of this giant, floating dragon, the being boastfully known to the world as the "strongest creature," that things changed.
His long-dormant, overwhelmingly aggressive, and absolute strongest Uchiha fighting blood finally began to truly boil in his veins!
"The last time we faced a guy this big and arrogant, you eagerly stepped up and took the lead, Hashirama."
Madara's lips slowly curled upwards into an arc of extreme, unrestrained arrogance and bloodlust.
"This time, it's my turn to stretch my muscles and remind the world what true despair looks like!"
Before his cold, dominant voice even fully faded into the wind, his physical body had already completely vanished from the spot, leaving behind a small crater!
In the very next microscopic instant, under the completely stunned, wide-eyed gaze of tens of thousands of people across the sprawling field.
Uchiha Madara's figure suddenly appeared standing proudly on the very peak of a high, jagged rocky slope.
He stood there with his arms relaxed, staring directly, unflinchingly into Kaido's massive, house-sized, glowing dragon head!
The visual of the tiny, seemingly fragile human body standing boldly against the massive, sky-blotting Azure Dragon was breathtaking.
This incredibly tense scene created a highly impactful, David-versus-Goliath contrast that made everyone hold their breath!
"Hey! Come on, Madara! That's totally unfair! That was supposed to be my opponent!"
Down on the ground below, Hashirama helplessly waved his hand at the tiny silhouette standing on the cliff. He pouted and complained loudly, looking exactly like a frustrated child whose favorite toy had just been snatched away by his brother.
But Uchiha Madara completely, utterly ignored him. His focus was absolute.
In his crimson eyes, there was only the massive, breathing Azure Dragon hovering majestically ahead of him.
Through his visual prowess, he could clearly feel the vast, terrifying, ocean-like vitality and raw physical power churning within the opponent's massive body. It was a pure, unadulterated, ultimate form of absolute "strength."
Finally... after waiting for so long, there was finally an opponent who could actually allow him to have a little bit of genuine fun!
"Oh, come now, it's fine, Hashirama."
Suzaku chuckled softly, walking over and gently patting Hashirama's broad shoulder. He comforted the depressed Hokage with an easy, knowing smile.
"You two are the absolute best of friends, right? Whether he steps up to fight or you step up to fight, isn't the final result exactly the same?"
Hearing this perfectly logical reasoning, Hashirama's mood didn't improve. He immediately became incredibly dejected, visibly slumping over.
He actually squatted down on the rocky ground, extending a finger and gloomily starting to draw small, continuous circles in the dirt.
"Fine... I guess I'll just let him have his fun this one time then..." Hashirama muttered, a dark cloud of comical depression practically forming over his head.
High above them in the darkened sky, the fierce, unnatural storm wind howled like mourning ghosts.
Kaido's huge, golden dragon eyes narrowed dangerously, fixed intently and solely on the incredibly arrogant, tiny human fellow who had suddenly dared to appear directly before him.
[Akarin Note:
Your Support Keeps This Story Alive!
If you're enjoying this novel, your support means the world to me. Simple actions like leaving a review, power stone, comment, or sharing the story let me know you're out there. It's the greatest motivation for me to keep updating until the very end and ensures this project continues.
For those who wish to support me more directly, you can join my Patreon at [patreon.com/AkarinTL]. As a thank-you, you'll receive access to 50 advanced chapters.
I hope I am still worthy of your support. My life truly depends on this... haha, I know I'm so shameless.]